


Infectious

by bookfreak1317



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Major Illness, Minor Character Death, Not Canon Compliant, Not Peggy Carter Friendly, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Reality check, ignorance, tuberculosis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-03-28 13:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13904649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookfreak1317/pseuds/bookfreak1317
Summary: In the 20th century, Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in the United States. It was common knowledge that TB was extremely infectious and extremely deadly. It was every American's responsibility to do their best to prevent the spread of this horrible disease. Nobody could risk taking a chance. It's a pity that Steve didn't get the memo.Inspired by Son of his Father by TheSovereigntyofReality





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheSovereigntyofReality](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSovereigntyofReality/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Son of his Father](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13302126) by [TheSovereigntyofReality](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSovereigntyofReality/pseuds/TheSovereigntyofReality). 



> Disclaimer: The MCU doesn't belong to me.
> 
> TheSovereigntyofReality brought up an extremely good point in their story “Son of his Father”, part 3 of The Holmes Estate series. They mentioned how Steve’s mother died of tuberculosis and how Steve was probably a carrier of the disease. That idea hasn't been able to leave me alone, so I did some research and wrote this story! I hope y'all enjoy it. This is my second writing foray into this amazing fandom!!!
> 
> During my research (yay Google!), I found out that there are two types of TB: Latent TB Infection and TB Disease. TB disease is whenever someone possesses the disease, displays symptoms, and are infectious. Meanwhile, Latent TB Infection is when someone possesses tuberculosis in their system but not the disease. They aren’t sick, they don’t display symptoms, and they aren’t infectious. But there is a chance that they will eventually develop and spread the disease to others. So I decided to write a quick story asking “What if Steve had Latent TB Infection and developed the disease while in boot camp?”. I cannot see that situation going well for anyone involved. And I personally think it is very likely that Steve would develop full-blown TB. With all of his medical conditions pre-serum, Steve would be susceptible to basically anything. It honestly shocks me that canon Steve didn’t develop the disease.
> 
> Here is a link to the CDC page I found explaining the finer details of Tuberculosis: https://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/general/ltbiandactivetb.htm

Steve couldn’t stop the coughing. The coughing fits had started a few weeks ago and Steve honestly hadn’t been worried. At first. Due to his asthma, he was used to struggling to breathe and uncontrollable coughing. He wasn’t used to the amount of effort and exercise that boot camp required of him (God, was he tired. Who knew it would require so much work?) so it made sense that his asthma would act up. As for the chest pains? They originally seemed to be a normal part of having both asthma and a heart condition. It appeared that boot camp was only seeming to serve to exasperate his medical conditions. As the days went on though, Steve only felt weaker instead of stronger like he expected. And his various conditions were only getting worse over time.

As each day passed, Steve started to worry. Was it normal for heavy exercise to cause so much pain and his asthma symptoms to be exaggerated to such an extent? Every day was a little worse than the past and Steve was having a hard time hiding and recovering from the symptoms.

Steve braced himself as he felt another coughing fit overcome him. His whole body shook with each cough and every cough seemed stronger and longer than the last. His head was pounding with each cough, his chest felt like it was on fire, and Steve just couldn’t breathe. Every time he tried to take in a breath, everything just felt more painful and tighter than before.

After a few minutes, the coughing finally (finally!) stopped. Steve couldn’t help but breath a sigh of relief when his body was finally able to relax and he was able to lean against the cool bathroom wall. God, his body felt like it was on fire. The feel of the cold and wet tile was like a dream come true to Steve’s frail and exhausted body. Steve was surprised when suddenly he felt something other than sweat dripping down his chin. When he went to touch it, Steve was confused when he found that both his hands and chin were covered in blood. When did that happen?

Steve tried to look around to get a better view of the blood, but it just made the spinning in his head worse. He just wanted everything to stop and stand still. He was so tired and so confused. He didn’t possess the energy needed to contemplate why there was blood everywhere. There was probably a logical explanation for that fact anyway. Some rookie probably injured their self again. During day two of boot camp, some idiot broke his nose and the amount of blood that injury caused was outrageous.

Steve was surprised to hear doors slamming and footsteps coming towards the bathroom. Maybe he could ask them why there was blood everywhere and who was injured. That amount of blood wasn’t healthy and whoever was bleeding definitely needed to go to the medical tent. The kid who broke his nose needed to have it reset by one of the med tent doctors.

Steve was shocked to suddenly feel his body shaking and he was able to faintly hear someone yelling his name. He didn’t realize that anyone was next to him. His partial deafness had been getting worse over the last few weeks so it wasn't too surprising that he didn't hear them. It was getting so hard to hear over the stuffiness in his head.

“Steve! Oh my god, what happened? Why is there so much blood?" The shaking became more intense with each question. "Steve? Answer me punk!”

Bucky quickly came into his eyes' focus. Bucky looked extremely pale and almost terrified. Why did he look that way? Did he find the injured rookie? Was the injury worse than he thought? Steve would normally offer to help, but he felt too tired to even ask, let alone get up and help. Maybe he just needed to lay down and nap? Everything was starting to hurt even more and he was so confused.

Steve felt his body laid gently on the floor before Bucky got to his feet and ran off towards the door. “Help! Someone get a doctor! Steve’s been injured!”

It seemed like forever before Bucky was kneeling back by his side, petting his hair. “It’ll be okay punk, the doc will be here soon to fix ya right up. Don’t worry.”

Before he could say anything, Steve felt his body overtaken by another brutal coughing fit. His whole body felt like it was being stabbed by hot knives. Why did everything feel so odd and hurt so much? The pounding in Steve’s head was just getting worse and his vision was starting to go out of focus again. Maybe it would be best if he just took a quick nap until the coughing and pain went away. That’d probably be for the best...

As Steve let his eyes close, he wondered why there was water being poured all over his nose and mouth. Maybe they were finally cleaning the blood off of his chin. He hoped they found that injured rookie soon...

“Steve?! Steve?! Wake up!!!” Steve felt his body relax as the darkness finally swarmed his body and took away his consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it doesn't make much sense for Bucky to be at boot camp, but I'm just going to pretend that Bucky and a bunch of other men were there to give inspirational and motivational speeches to the new recruits.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thanks for much for the love and support this story had received! I'm so excited that you guys are enjoying this. I'm sorry it took me so long to post this update, I've been busy with life and the other story I'm writing. The muse is working just fine when it comes to that story, but it's being a pain when it comes to this one. Hopefully chapter 3 will come a little easier.
> 
> Please feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments below! I'm always looking for the opportunity to better my writing. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this. :)

Steve suddenly came to with a gasp and felt his body spring up in the bed. Where was he? What was going on? What happened? Steve looked around wildly. He started relaxing once he realized he was in the Medical Tent. Why was he in the tent? Was there an accident?

“Cadet, calm down. You’re still on base, you’re in the medical tent. You were ill but you’re doing better now.” Steve felt a hand rest on his shoulder and gently push him back on the bed. “You need to rest. The worst of it is over, but you’re still slightly ill. A few more days of rest and you should be well again.”

Steve nodded his head as allowed himself to be tucked in by the nurse. He was surprised to notice that the majority of the other beds in the medical tent were either full or covered by a sheet. What had happened? What disease did he and his fellow men contract? Before he could wonder anymore, Steve felt his eyes slowly close and he drifted off.

****

Steve woke a few days later. This time, he stayed laying down as he came back to full awareness. Steve looked around the medical tent. He was surprised to see what was once a full medical tent was now empty except for him. Where did everyone go? Did they all recover before he did? Steve felt a surge of anger at the idea. Why did he always have to contract whatever disease was out there and why was he always the last to recover from it? It was embarrassing and he just knew that Hodge and those others bullies would give him a hard time for it. Steve let out a groan and rubbed his face at the thought. While rubbing his eyes, he realized something. His hand was different. It was tanner, more muscular, and HUGE. He sat up in a flash. Steve wasn’t able to hold back his gasp when he looked down. He had abs! Steve fell out of the bed in shock. Why did he suddenly have muscles? His arms, his legs, everything was muscular!

Steve quickly stumbled to his feet (he was going to have to adjust to this new feet) when he heard hurried footsteps rush into the tent. The nurse froze when she realized he was awake. “Cadet Rogers,” She said, quietly and calmly. “My name is Nurse Jones. I’ve been taking care of you these past few weeks. I promise you that everything is okay."

“What happened? I don’t know or remember why I’m here. And what’s happened to my body? What’s going on?” Steve asked, looking down at his body. Steve couldn’t stop the panic that was starting to rise up in his body. Was this some hallucination? Was he still sick and suffering from the symptoms?

“You were found passed out in the bathroom of your squadron’s quarters a few weeks ago. You were brought here and were suffering greatly from the symptoms of your disease before you started to make a recovery. We thought you were fine before you suddenly relapsed. You were on the verge of death but then Doctor Eskrine snuck you out of the medical tent and gave you a serum that was able to heal you completely of the disease. It also had some side effects that include your new and advanced physique. I can bring you to someone who can talk to you about everything that’s occurred.” The nurse offered, giving a shy smile while gesturing to the entrance to the medical tent.

Steve felt himself physically relax at the nurse’s words and kind smile. She seemed like a nice young gal and seemed to know what she was talking about. He’d see who he could talk to in order to understand this new situation (and body), he awoke to.

He couldn’t help a small smile as he followed the nurse out of the tent though. His body was finally healed! From the look of things, his body was in amazing condition, even after being ill for as long as the nurse said he was. His body seemed to finally match his personality and his desire to be something _more_. He couldn’t wait to find out more about what he could now do and _be_ with his new condition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was only supposed to be two chapters but here we are, end of chapter two, and it’s still not done. I have at least one more chapter planned for this story. Hopefully I will have it done within the next week or two. I don’t plan on dragging this story out, but sometimes the muse takes over and messes up my carefully laid plans.
> 
> Thanks again for reading! Please feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments below. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent days trying to write this chapter when I was suddenly hit with inspiration and bam! I finished the chapter in one go. The words just started flowing and I wasn't able to stop until it was finished. Who needs sleep anyway? Lol.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I tried to make it a good mixture of realistic and creative freedom, so do let me know if what I've done doesn't make any sense. As of right now, this is the end of the story. If the muse ever hits again, I may write an epilogue regarding what happened both during and after the war. But I'm unsure if that will happen anytime soon. So I figured it's safe to say that this is the end (for now).
> 
> Thanks again for reading and I hope y'all enjoyed this little story of mine! I appreciate all of the love this has received. It honestly means so much to me. As always, please feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments down below. :)

Steve was surprised to realize that the nurse was leading him to the war room. Why would he be meeting up with these experts here? This room could seat more than just a few individuals. It could seat up to 50 individuals at any time.

The nurse knocked at the door. It was a second before it was opened by an angry looking general. Did something happen while he was ill? “Yes?”

“Mr. Rogers has woken up and has questions about what has occurred since he fell ill.” The Nurse said, gesturing towards Steve. Steve didn’t think it was possible, but the general became even more furious. Why was this general angry at the sight of him? Steve was pretty sure he’d never met this general before.

“Follow me!” The general barked at him before thanking the nurse and heading into the room.

Steve froze as he entered the room. The room appeared to be packed by various military Generals and Colonels, all in states of argument. The arguing stopped and they all leveled a glare at him as soon as they recognized his arrival. He was surprised to see so many generals and colonels in one place.

“Do you realize what your idiocy has done?” Colonel Phillips yelled, marching up to Steve until he was in his face. “Do you understand the terrible thing you have done to the war effort?”

“Sir…. I don't know what you're talking about. I just woke up, what's wrong?” Steve couldn’t help but feel confused. Why was his Colonel like this? He knew that he never liked him, but he has never been on the receiving end of such hostility before. What had happened while he was asleep?

“Rogers, take a seat.” A General Steve didn't know said, gesturing to the open seat at the table. “Colonel Phillips, please sit back down and calm yourself. Nothing will be solved by yelling.”

Phillips took in a shuddering breath before apologizing and heading back over to his seat. Steve was relieved to realize that his seat was on the other side of the table. Good, he didn’t want to have face any more of his wrath. He already got enough trouble from the Colonel during training. After taking his own seat, the same general as before started talking again.

“Rogers, you need to understand something right off the bat. We don't give a damn about you. We would all honestly be fine if you just dropped dead tomorrow. Unfortunately, we cannot afford that. Unfortunately, we need your help to fix this situation _you_ caused.” The general said with a scowl.

“What situation?” Steve asked, feeling his body tense at the numerous scowls that were sent his way. It was like they expected him to magically know what was going on and what happened while he was ill. How was he supposed to know?

“How did your mother die, Rogers?” One of the nameless generals asked.

“What?” Why were they asking about his mother? Were they planning on using her death against him somehow? He had already dealt with enough assholes using his family against him. Growing up, kids always gave him a hard time for not having a father. He wasn’t going to let a bunch of army Generals and Colonels now give him a hard time about his mother now.

“We ask you, because either you are dumb enough to not know that Tuberculosis is highly contagious or you’re selfish enough to not care.” A General said, tapping a pile of folders on the table. Steve was surprised to see that his name was on it. Were those his medical records? “Doctor Eskrine felt that it was prudent to the war effort for you to join the military. Contrary to what your medical records said. The good doctor,” This was said sarcastically. “decided to ignore that danger your medical conditions and illnesses posed to both yourself and our men. Not only that, he also chose to ignore the fact that your mother had died from Tuberculosis and that you had been exposed to the disease.”

“According to Eskrine’s scientific records and journals, he believed that you were the best candidate for his super soldier program. Some bullshit about how you were a worthy man because you broke the law numerous times in order to enlist in the military.” Another man said, snorting slightly while tapping yet another pile of folders. Why did they have so many folders and records? When did anyone have time for record keeping? They were in the middle of a war, shouldn’t everyone be busy with fighting? “His plan had been for you to prove your worthiness during basic training so that he could gain approval to inject you with his serum. Unfortunately for Eskrine, those plans fell through. Instead, you developed full-blown tuberculosis and infected half of our men.”

Half of their men? That wasn’t possible. Tuberculosis couldn’t be that contagious. Could it?

“Including your friend Sergeant Barnes.”

Steve froze at the mention of Bucky. “Bucky got infected? Is he okay?”

“Luckily, Sergeant Barnes has not developed the disease.” One of the generals from before said. “But due to his exposure, he has been temporarily relieved from duty.”

“What? Why? Why would you punish him for not developing a disease? Bucky is one of the best soldiers you have!” Steve yelled, slamming his hands on the table. What did Bucky do? Were these generals idiots? They were harming the war effort by getting rid of Bucky!!!!

“Rogers, you need to calm down right now!” Colonel Phillips snapped at him. “You need to learn to control your emotions AND strength. You’re no longer the skinny little punk you once were. You’re now stronger. A lot stronger. Look at what you did to the table.” Phillips gestured to the spot in front of Steve.

Steve was shocked to see two hand imprints on the table’s surface. Small cracks were trailing from each finger. Did he really do that? All by himself?

“As I was saying before, Sergeant Barnes is on temporary leave. Along with the other soldiers who were exposed directly to you and didn’t develop the disease, and any individuals exposed to the men who developed the disease as well. All of them are currently on lockdown in a medical facility, in case any of them develop the disease. We don’t know how long it can take for possible development, so the men will stay there indefinitely until medical professionals can determine their safety. It is very unlikely that any of these men will be allowed back into the military. There is nothing that modern medicine can do in order to help these men.”

Steve couldn’t believe his ears. Bucky would never be allowed back in the military? Bucky was one of the best soldiers out there, it wasn’t fair to Bucky or the war effort!

“Can’t Doctor Eskrine give Bucky the same serum I was given?” Steve asked earnestly. There had to be something they could do to help Bucky!

“I can’t help but notice your lack of concern for the other men, Mr. Rogers.” A colonel sitting next to him said, speaking up for the first time. “I understand that Sergeant Barnes is your friend, but do none of the other men matter to you?”

“Of course they matter!” Steve exclaimed. “I just know Bucky best... I’m just a little more worried about him. I need to know whether I need to contact his Mama about what’s happened.”

“Don’t worry Mr. Rogers, the families and loved ones of ALL the men involved have been informed. Including those who have died from Tuberculosis. The families just believed that they were injured in an attack from enemy forces.”

“Wait, men died from the disease?” Steve was shocked. He hadn’t realized people had died from the disease. Hundreds of men were now quarantined and dead because of him? This all happened just because his mother contracted and died of Tuberculosis?

“What did you expect? That everyone would be fine?” Yet another general snapped at him. How generals were there?? “The majority of your platoon died from this disease. Died from your exposure. And even more men have been quarantined and hospitalized because of it. As for your suggestion before, Doctor Eskrine cannot be any help in this situation. He, unfortunately, passed away from the disease as well, and no one is able to recreate his serum. The components that went into the serum was the only thing he didn’t write down, due to his fear of it being stolen. He hadn’t planned on prematurely dying and not being able to recreate and use the serum again.”

Steve couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Eskrine was dead? There was no hope for Bucky? “What does this mean?”

“This means that one of the brightest doctors of this age has died because they decided you were worth the risk of one of the deadliest diseases in the United States. This means, that hundreds of men have died and are suffering because you decided common sense wasn’t needed in regards to such a deadly virus. This means, that the United States’ military is screwed. All because of you. And you will suffer the consequences.”

Steve gulped. When he tried to enlist, he hadn’t thought that his mother’s contraction of tuberculosis would have any effect on him. He had assumed he was fine when he hadn’t developed the disease while caring for his mother. “What will happen to me?”

“Unfortunately, we need you. The serum you now possess is too important to waste. We are at war and we need to utilize every option available. Even if that means letting you walk free during this time.” All the individuals looked grave and nodded their heads at these words. “You are going to be our a new and improved army. And you better do a damn good job of it. No one behind enemy lines can know about the loss we suffered and the only way we can do so it by making up for the armies we are now missing. You are going to complete your training and become the best damn soldier and army we could ever ask for. You are going to pay for your mistakes by working your ass off for the US Military.”

 "Is that even legal?” Steve asked, anger swelling up in his chest at the general’s words. They didn’t have the right to order him around like that! He was an American! He didn't mean for any of this to happen!vit was an accident!!!

“Thankfully, this incident is off of official records. No one wants it to get out that our enlistment process was overturned all because of some wack-job doctor and sickly punk who thought they knew better than everyone else. Our plan to use you until the war is won is legal because no one can prove otherwise. And we will continue using you until your usefulness wears off. And if you think you can fight back or tell anyone about what’s happening, you are wrong. We will not hesitate to arrest you and let it be known to the world that it’s your fault for the death and suffering of hundreds of good men. A war criminal like you could easily be given the death penality." Colonel Phillips had an evil gleam in his eyes as he said this. He had been looking for a reason to get the better of Steve since day one and it looked like he finally got that opportunity. “Besides, who would believe your story over the US Military? The military that’s going to wish this damn war?”

Steve felt fear paralyze him. No one outside of this room was going to know what was happening to him. No one was going to realize that he was being forced to fight with no chance of fighting back or any semblance of control over the situation. And he could be killed if he tried anything. What did he do?

“Because of you, hundreds of men are now dead. Because of you, our armies have now shrunk down. Because of **you** , this war is going to take longer to win. You might as well work with the Nazis because of how detrimental your actions were to our effort.” The General’s voice got colder with every word and the glares from the room became fiercer by the second. “And now, you gotta face the consequences. You are going to step up to the plate and man up for the first time in your goddamn life. You are going to fix this mess you've made. You kill and hospitalize hundreds of men? Good thing you have the energy and strength of a hundred men. You are going to replace our army. And you better do a damn good job of it. Because if we lose, that loss will be on you.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally wrote another chapter for this! Yay! Hopefully y'all enjoy this extra snippet. I'm not sure how happy I am with this chapter though. I feel like this needs something more, but I wasn't able to figure out what or how to add onto this in a way that flows smoothly.
> 
> I am planning on writing another chapter for this. It will be about Steve's experiences during the war and how he handles this new situation he's in. I plan to have it posted within the next week. So let's hope I don't get a writer's block! Lol.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! As always, please feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments below. :)

“We could use him! I know he messed up and caused some damage, but from the look of things, he didn’t mean to. He didn't realize that the damage he could cause. We shouldn’t waste such a valuable resource.” Peggy argued to the founders of SHIELD. She understood that what she was suggesting was a bit controversial, but it was the best decision for the organization.

“ _Some_ damage? Are you fucking kidding me Peggy?” Howard asked, a scowl spread across his face. “Over 500 of our men died from Tuberculosis because of Rogers! He may have meant well, but good intentions don’t negate the consequences. Good men suffered and died because of him.”

“I’m not saying that we ignore those consequences! But we cannot ignore how powerful Steve is because of this serum. He made up for those lack of men. We were able to defeat Germany and stop HYDRA. If it wasn’t for Steve, we wouldn’t have been able to defeat Red Skull and capture Zola.” Peggy argued. They needed more men like Steve! He had noble intentions and such amazing abilities. He shouldn’t be wasted.

After years of fighting, the Allies were able to finally invade Germany and made their way through the country. Near the end of the war, they had finally corned the leaders of HYDRA and were able to capture Zola. Rogers and the his team, the Howling Commandos, were able to break into HYDRA’s main facility where they were experimenting with the Tesseract. The team was able to capture HYDRA’s main leaders and the war ended only a few months later.

“Did you read different reports from me?” Phillips asked incredulously. “The other men on his team reported that Rogers was careless! He was so focused on punching out Red Skull, that he didn’t notice the equipment he was destroying around him. We could’ve had so much more information if he hadn’t destroyed the main hard drive! We had Zola in our custody for over 10 years and he never talked. That hard drive could’ve filled in the blanks.”

According to reports from the Howling Commandos, Rogers had just burst in and started fighting Red Skull with no concern for anything else. The other commandos had to scramble to grab Zola and preserve the research before he could run off with it. The Tesseract had almost been destroyed as well. Red Skull and Rogers had fallen on top of the Tesseract during the fight, causing a blinding flash to fill the room. After the light faded, it was discovered that the two men had disappeared. Thankfully, the Tesseract didn’t disappear with them. The research done because of this device was fantastic and had an amazing effect on the world as a whole. But one thing they had always struggled with was using the Tesseract to locate the two men.

Half of SHIELD’s researchers thought the men must’ve disintegrated on the molecular level, while the other half had believed they had been transported. So for the past 20 years, a small section of SHIELD had been studying Quantum Mechanics and molecules. This research had been extremely successful and Hank Pym and his wife were the leading experts in this new field. Meanwhile, another section was searching the globe for any sign of Red Skull or Rogers. It was only in the last few months that something came of this search.

Rogers had been found frozen deep in the Arctic under the ice.  It was theorized that the Tesseract had transported him to this location and due the powers of the Tesseract, he had fallen in to some sort of stasis and hadn’t aged a day. After hours of testing, Rogers appeared healthy. There was nothing biologically wrong with him. It was an easy decision to thaw him out. And the only issue they have since found is that he's still as stubborn as could be. Rogers kept arguing that he needed to go back out into the world and “fight the good fight”. He had to continue “fighting for the little guy”. The majority of SHIELD’s founders disagreed with his idea. Except for Peggy.

“Peggy, I understand that you two bonded during the war. But Rogers was a flight risk. And he continues to be. Hell, he’s probably even a bigger one. As of right now, we cannot use him. He could cause more harm than good. These reports from his missions do not paint him in a good light.” Howard explained as he pushed those files towards Peggy. Peggy scowled at his words and her scowl only deepened as she glanced at the files.

“How do we know these men didn’t exaggerate Steve’s flaws? While he isn’t perfect, he can’t be as terrible as these reports make him out to be.” Peggy argued.

“You bring up a valid point Carter, but until we can prove otherwise, we are going to treat Rogers with kiddie gloves.” Phillips explained, the vein on his forehead was popping out a little. Shit, they should probably end this meeting before he finally lost his temper. “We already found the best psychotherapists around and we have already started developing a reintegration program for him. If Rogers wants to become a valuable resource, he needs to be up to date on National and world events. He went missing in 1945. It’s now 1966. He’s missed over 20 years worth of history. We cannot just randomly send him onto missions hoping he doesn’t offend or attack the wrong people.”

“Once he has completed therapy and this integration program, we will then consider sending him back to boot camp.” Howard explained. “The military has already agreed to this and is more than willing to help catch Rogers up on military history as well.”

“Why does he need to go back to boot camp?” Peggy angrily asked. “He fought in the war! He was apart of an elite squad that was one of the most successful in our military’s history! Why would he need a refresher course?”

“Rogers only completed a few weeks of boot camp before he infected everyone with Tuberculosis. Not only did he never complete boot camp, but that training is now wildly out of date. It would beneficial to everyone if he attended. And if he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t have to go. It’s his decision.” Howard explained, while trying to ignore the headache that was now forming because of Peggy’s questions. Why was she suddenly forget all of their previous conversations and decisions about the super soldier? Was she planning something. “We are just offering our best resources for the best results.”

“Not only he is getting access to these resources, but SHIELD will also house and feed him during this time to help with this transition. He is getting all of this for FREE.” Phillips emphasized. “Most people dream about an opportunity like this. Also, if  Rogers doesn’t like it, he can leave and figure it out on his own. I don’t see why any sane individual would do that though.”

“Fine!” Peggy finally snapped. “We’ll do this YOUR way. But I don’t see why we should waste our time with this. This is Captain America we’re talking about. He’s an America’s idol. Children have grown up with his comics and cartoons. If anyone ever finds out we’re doing this, we’ll quickly lose public approval.” Peggy’s scowl came back at the reminder that the public knew about SHIELD. When the idea of SHIELD was first proposed, Peggy had originally wanted to hide their existence. Both Howard and Phillips had disagreed with this idea though. They had seen what a lack of accountability can do. The Tuberculosis breakout could’ve been prevented if Eskrine had been held more accountable and had been under more scrutiny. If his project hadn’t been as hidden as it was, the outbreak may have never happened. Howard and the others had only known the bare minimum, and were only consulted for designing the equipment necessary for the serum. If they had known more, maybe they could’ve done something.

“If the public finds out, we'll just remind that that those comics and cartoons as just that: comics and cartoons. They aren't real life, they are fantasy and propaganda. We wanted to continue to raise moral after the war, not destroy it by telling everyone the guy who technically rid the world of Red Skull was impulsive and responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers." Phillips angrily growled.

"I’m glad to here we’re all on the same page." Howard quickly said, hoping to prevent another argument. He was not in the mood. “I'll go inform Rogers of our plan right away. The sooner we get started, the better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline for this story:  
> Steve Rogers receives super soldier serum- 1942  
> Steve and Red Skull disappear- Spring of 1945  
> WWII ends- Autumn of 1945  
> SHIELD's founding- 1946  
> Steve was located and thawed- 1966


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I lied. This isn't the last chapter. I have yet ANOTHER chapter planned for this story. Also, my plans for this chapter fell apart and this is what happened instead. The next chapter will actually deal with Steve and how he's handling his new situation. This chapter instead deals with Howard and Peggy, and what she was obviously planning last chapter. Sorry to any Peggy fans out there. I didn't realize I had so much saltiness towards her until this chapter happened. Hopefully y'all enjoy this!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has been reading this story! I appreciate all of the love this has received. :)

Howard had a headache. And it was only getting worse. It was his fault for this headache of course. He should’ve realized things were going to go to hell. He should’ve realized that Peggy was going to go behind his back. He should’ve realized that Rogers was never going to listen to anyone _other_ than Peggy.

After his meeting with Phillips and Peggy, he was feeling great. They had a plan in place and Rogers was finally going to recover. And that plan worked great. Rogers was close to completing his reintegration program and seemed to be quickly catching up on world and national events. His instructors praised his memory and knowledge. The super serum must’ve had an effect on Rogers’ brain as well.

Not only that, but his therapist was extremely excited about the progress Rogers was making. Within the first few sessions, Rogers was diagnosed with depression and gross stress reaction (battle fatigue as it was previously known) but he was making strides to overcome them. No one could judge him for this though, everyone would be a little fucked up after waking up 20 years in the future. But it was a relief to hear that he would have recovered soon.

After a few months, everything was looking fantastic so Phillips started getting everything ready on the military end of things for Rogers. And then everything went to hell.

It turned out, Rogers wasn’t making ANY progress. Howard had been dumb enough to trust Peggy to assign instructors and find a therapist. Peggy was female, she’s supposed to be more in touch with her feelings. Howard wasn’t any good at that, people were always telling him that. So it made sense for her to choose rather than him. Except, Peggy hadn’t done that. She hadn't actually found the best people in the field. Instead, she choose people who supported her belief that Captain America was an American idol and that he didn't need to do anything this. So the reports he had been seeing were falsified. Rogers hadn’t actually been learning or making progress in his therapy.

Instead, whenever Rogers was at therapy or receiving lessons, Peggy was actually preparing him for an undercover mission in Germany. In GERMANY of all fucking places! Not only did Peggy prepare him for a mission without him having any important background information ABOUT said country, she actually SENT him to said country! And that mission completely went to hell.

The mission was to infiltrate Germany’s Federal Parliament and help get one of Peggy’s associates in a position of power. Specifically, Chancellor. The relationship between Germany and the United States had been worsening over the past few years due to the Vietnam War and Peggy claimed that she was hoping to change

Rogers of course didn’t know ANYTHING about the Vietnam War and due to being a “patriot”, he assumed the war was happening for a good and valid reason. Which is a bad opinion to have when you're pretending to be a high-ranking German military officer. He ended up making a wrong comment, alerted authorities to his presence, and Rogers resorted to what he does best: punching his way out of the situation. Europe was now demanding answers and Germany was threatening to completely cut ties with the United States over the situation. In turn, the United States government was demanding to know what SHIELD had been thinking when they authorized the mission. And that is what Howard was planning to ask Peggy about.

“What the hell were you thinking, Pegs?!?!” Howard had demanded as he entered the holding cell she was being kept in. “Were you trying to ruin ALL of our relationships with Europe???”

“I was trying to help! Germany and US relations have been falling to the wayside for years now. I wanted to try to fix that.” Peggy snapped, crossing her arms angrily across her chest. "I was trying to fix the mess that everyone else made."

“I know that’s your OFFICIAL story. But you obviously don’t care about that. Germany has something else you want. What is it?” Howard knew that Peggy didn't care about international relations. She cared about secrets and knowledge. And Germany had plenty.

Peggy refused to answer the question and continued to glare at Howard.

“Fine. Don’t tell me. I’m sure I can get the information from Rogers. But I want you to know, that may be the only piece of information that can possibly salvage your situation.” Howard said as he walked away.

“What do you mean 'my situation'?” Peggy called out from behind him. “Is something going to happen to me?”

Howard turned around and couldn’t help the snort that escaped at the look of surprise on her face. “Did you honestly think there wouldn’t be any consequences? The higher ups are currently debating whether to deport you and declare you person non-grata, or charge you with treason and lock you away for life. The more information you give up, the better.”

“You’re lying! You wouldn’t allow that to happen. I am one of SHIELD’s founders and am one of our best agents. I am valuable!” Peggy snapped angrily, her cheeks flushing red.

“Fine. Don’t take my word on it. I’m done protecting you Pegs. Good luck.” And with that, Howard left the room. The next time he saw her, was when he was testifying against her in court.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. I have no excuse for why this chapter took so long. First it was writer's block, then life got crazy, then work got crazy, then school got crazy, everything got crazy and was- chaos. But, I finally found the time and the inspiration to write this! Yay!
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. This is the last one of this short little story of mine. Thank y'all for the amazing support during this story, it has been wonderful! Again, I apologize for the delay.

**Howard’s PoV**

“Agent Barnes!” Howard exclaimed, unable to keep the smile off of his smile. He was always excited to see an old friend of his. “I wasn’t expecting to see you. What are you doing here?”

“Howard! It’s great to see you. You know I go by Bucky. If you call me Agent Barnes again, I will be forced to call you Doctor Stark.” Bucky said with a smirk as he shook Howard’s hand.

“Don’t you dare.” Howard said with a chuckle as he shook Bucky’s hand. “It’s great to see you. Are you here to handle Peggy’s case?”

“That I am. The investigation is almost complete though.” Bucky explained. “It doesn’t seem like Pegs is going to talk. So we’re now going after the other individuals involved. We have already interviewed Agents Carle, Fury, and Jameson. We are also going to be talking to a therapist and two college professors. Any idea why?”  Bucky asked with some confusion as he looked over the folder in his hands.

“Peggy was paying off those two individuals and having them falsify reports." Howard hesitated a moment before continuing. "The reports were regarding Steve’s progress and adjustment after being thawed from the ice.”

“Oh, okay. That explains a lot.” Bucky had a pinched look on his face at Howard’s words.

“I’m sorry about this Bucky. When I reached out to you about the possibility of reconnecting with Steve, I didn’t imagine it would happen this way.” Howard said with sympathy. Bucky had sounded nervous and unsure over the phone about meeting with Steve, so being forced to meet him in this kind of situation had to be nerve wracking.

“It’s not your fault, Howard. Pegs and Stevie should’ve known better. There’s no one else to blame but them.” Bucky said with a half shrug. “Maybe they’ll learn from this, who knows.”

Howard nodded in agreement. “Hopefully. I’ll take you to the interrogation room where Steve is being held if you want.”

“That’d be great, thank you.”

 

*********

 

**Bucky’s PoV**

Being discharged from the military was both a blessing and a curse. A curse, due to the quarantine he was held in for a year. A blessing, because he was given the opportunity to find and build a career that wasn’t in the military. Being drafted had put all of Bucky’s dreams on hold. He never expected to come back from the war. He was just thankful that he would get 3 square meals a day, instead of starving back home like he originally was. Then Stevie went and ruined everything.

Quarantine was terrible. Everyday, people around him came down with Tuberculosis and Bucky was stuck waiting to see if he was next. Except, he wasn’t. He never got sick, he never suffered. He just went on living. And Bucky couldn’t tell whether that was better or worse

Doctors were amazed at Bucky’s good fortune, and they requested he participate in some experiments and test trials in order for doctors to one day come up with a vaccination. The research was extremely successful and possible vaccinations were created, with some more successful than others, but doctors were hopeful. The US government was extremely grateful for Bucky’s assistance and they offered to pay for him to go to school. Bucky honestly hadn’t known what to go to school for, he hadn’t expected to survive the war let alone live a normal life. Bucky eventually decided that he wanted to help others and he went to the police academy. After a few years, he was eventually promoted to detective, and as the years went on, he eventually became a Special Operative for the United States government. Bucky loved every second of it. The work he got to do, the adventures he had, and the people he helped, it was amazing. It was until he was called in to head the investigation into Peggy Carter.

It was shocking to learn about what Peggy had done, it was even worse once he learned that Steve was working with her due to his own stupidity and stubbornness to accept this new world around him. He couldn’t believe that Steve had tried to help Peggy invade a foreign country in order to steal secret intelligence. Why had he done that? Why had he thought that was a good idea? He was going to hopefully find out.

Bucky took a moment to pause outside of Steve’s interrogation room before he went in. He had to face the situation head on.

Steve shot up in surprise as Bucky entered the interrogation room. “Bu-Bucky? Is that you?”

“Hey Punk,” Bucky said with a sad smile. It was amazing to see Steve again. Now only if it wasn’t under such dire circumstances.

“You’re here! You’re finally here.” Steve said with a huge smile as he ran over to Bucky and enveloped him in a hug. “I was worried you wouldn’t come.”

“What do you mean Steve?” Bucky asked with confusion, as he pulled away from Steve’s embrace. “You knew that I was one of the head investigators? Howard didn’t mention you knew about my job.”

“What? No. After I came out of the ice, I asked Peggy to contact you for me. She kept telling me you were busy or weren’t responding to her messages. I was honestly really worried.”

Bucky felt his heart ache at the bit of sadness on Steve’s face, but the anger he felt towards Peggy quickly overtook. “Steve, Peggy never contacted me. Howard contacted me two weeks ago to ask me to visit you, due to how well your progress reports said you were doing.”

“What???” Steve said, shock enveloping his face at Bucky’s words. “Peggy wouldn’t lie about that! She has been fantastic since I came out of the ice. She has been so supportive and knowledgeable about everything I missed out on. She’s so smart.” A dopey and lovesick look came across Steve’s face.

The anger Bucky felt only grew at the look on his face. He knew that look. “Steve, you do know that Peggy has a husband, right?

Heartbreak and surprise quickly replaced the love-sickness. “Wha-what? She has a family? She, she never said anything! Peggy would NEVER hide that from me!”

“I’m sorry Steve, but it’s true. I was one of the groomsmen at the wedding.” Bucky reached into his pocket and pulled at his wallet. He quickly found the photo he was looking for.

The heartbreak on Steve’s face worsened as he stared at the wedding photo Bucky offered.

“Why would she hide this from me? Why would she lead me on? Wh-why would she betray her husband with me?” Steve asked, his voice getting smaller as he went on.

“Everyone knew that you had a thing for her during the war. She was probably using your feelings to her advantage. Peggy is a master manipulator. Her leading you on probably made you more likely to go along with her plan.”

“Why would her leading me on help with her plan?”

“Because you’re too trustworthy of your friends. It’s always been a fault of yours. You’ve always struggled with seeing the bad in your friends. You take their word at face value and never question them. You always did that with me when we were kids. Do you know how many times I ended up dragging you down with me, because you couldn’t believe I could be lying? You were so adamant that I was in the right, that you automatically defended me whenever I got into fights. Unfortunately, you did the same with Peggy. You assumed she was right.”

Steve sat up straighter, looking ready to argue, but Bucky put up a hand to stop him.

“Steve, you’re a smart man. Why didn’t you question anything? Why didn’t you try to find out more information? Didn’t you find it strange that you were infiltrating a foreign government? I know it was Peggy leading things, but why wouldn’t you try to find someone to corroborate what Peggy was telling you? Why didn’t you go to Howard?”

“Howard changed! He’s too bureaucratic and is afraid to take risks. He also had me jumping through so many pointless hoops. I should be out there helping people! Not getting my head shrinked or learning about politics.” Steve said with a scowl. "It's a waste. The Howard I knew understand how important it is to get men out on the field quickly."

“Do you know that Germany is no longer our enemy? That we are allies?”

“What?” Steve asked, surprise evident in his voice. “But, they’re Nazis!”

Bucky held in a grown and felt the vein in his forehead begin to throb. “Steve, the war has been over for years. They aren’t Nazis anymore. They have changed, for the better.”

“If they’re not bad, why are they beginning to turn against us? Why don’t they agree with us about the Vietnam war?”

“Do you know anything about the war, Steve? Do you know about any of the politics behind it, why most of the world disagrees with us?”

Steve hesitated before a stubborn look came about him. “I don’t, but we are America! We wouldn’t be in this war if it wasn’t right! If it wasn’t important!”

Bucky couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was Steve always this stubborn? “Steve, I don’t even know what to say to you. The ignorance, is insane. But I’m not here to talk about Vietnam, I am here to talk about Peggy’s plans. She claims she wanted to fix our relationship with Germany, but we all know that’s not true. What was she really planning?”

“Nothing! Peggy wasn’t planning on anything!” Steve rushed the sentence out, making it obvious that he was lying.

“Steve, we both know that isn’t true. I know you think that you’re helping Peggy, but you’re really not. You’re making things worse. For both her and yourself. The more information you share, the better. If you try to fix this, maybe things will work out better for you in the long run.” Bucky said, wanting his friend to fix the situation he was stuck in and also wanting the information for his job.

Steve hesitated a moment before slumping his shoulders in defeat. “Okay. Peggy wanted me to collect some information regarding the Red Skull and the super soldier program. She also wanted the names of the scientists involved the project. She never said why, but I think she was hoping to get a hold of them and have them recreate the serum for her. After I recovered from the ice, she had me complete a lot of physical and mental assessments. She was extremely pleased with the results, so I think she wanted to make more soldiers.”

Bucky nodded his head as he wrote down the information. This made a lot more sense than what Peggy had been claiming. “Alright, thank you Steve. We seized all of Peggy’s documents regarding this mission, so we will keep an eye out for any information regarding the serum.” Bucky closed the folder and got up to leave.

“Wait! Where are you going?” Steve looked scared and worried as Bucky moved towards to the door.

“I need to finish this investigation Steve, it is a matter of national security. I don’t have time to hang out and gab. If this isn’t resolved soon, we will have an even worse international crisis.”

“Will you come back? I would love to catch up. I miss my best friend.” Steve said, throwing on some puppy dog eyes. Dear god, did Steve really still make those eyes when he doesn’t get his way?

“I don’t know Steve. Since I started talking to you, you have shown me how ignorant and how stubborn you are. You have shown me that you’re not willing to change or better yourself. I don’t know if I want that in my life.”

“Bucky! Please don’t go! Give me a chance. Please!  What can I do to change your mind?” Steve pleaded, tears welling up in eyes. Bucky’s heart softened a bit at the look on Steve’s face. Could he really abandon his childhood friend like this?

After a moment, Bucky let out a sigh and came to a decision. Hopefully one he wouldn’t regret.

“Try to adjust. That’s all I want Steve. I really miss having you as a friend. I loved our time together growing up. But if you aren’t willing to try to accept your new situation and learn about what you’ve missed, honestly, you aren’t worth my time. You’re not worth the headache. Fix yourself Steve. Once you start trying, I’d be more than happy to visit you again. I want my friend back, but not like this.” Bucky said, gesturing around the room. "Once that happens, I'd be more than happy to come back for a visit. Good bye, Punk." Bucky had to force himself to not turn back around and see the heartbroken look he knew was on Steve's face.


End file.
